John Watkins Bookshop, Cecil Court, London
London, England · c.1942–1944
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51.51070°N, -0.12790°E
Key Facts
- ◆ John Watkins was a specialist bookseller in occult, Eastern religion, and Theosophy, at Cecil Court, WC2.
- ◆ An important source for Buddhist texts that were unavailable elsewhere in wartime London.
- ◆ Sangharakshita visited regularly to deepen his Buddhist reading before army service.
- ◆ The shop still exists as Watkins Books, now at nearby 19-21 Cecil Court.
In the years between discovering the Diamond Sutra in Tooting Public Library and his embarkation for India with the Army, Sangharakshita haunted the esoteric bookshop of John Watkins on Cecil Court off Charing Cross Road — one of the few places in wartime London where Buddhist and Theosophical texts could actually be found.
— The Rainbow Road
Source: The Rainbow Road
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